Monday, 27 March 2017

The game is a single stableford & is a Consistency event, the first of our trophy comps.

The game is sponsored by Deb Duffy Real Estate.

The state of the course will depend on what comes ashore with cyclone Debbie, so watch this space for any updates.

Louis

PS For those of you who intend to play in the State Championships at Maroochydore on 15/16 May, please note that if you are using your own cart a fee of $10 per day will apply. See the QVGU web site for more information at http://qvgu.com.au/champ.html.

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

Today we played a stableford event at
Atherton Golf Club and a field of 52 men and 17 women set out to play
a course that was a little damp in places and as a result of this,
run was minimal and distance became an issue for many of us.

We welcome new member Neil Hamilton of
Cairns and one visitor, Colin Billingham.

The sponsor for today was DRUMMOND
GOLF of Cairns and our thanks
go to Darren and his team for the support they give our club. I would
like to encourage any of our members who enjoyed the course and the
relative coolness of the Atherton climate to enter the DRUMMOND CUP
which starts at Atherton this Sunday. The cup is to be played over
four games spread over a few months at four local courses including
Gordonvale, Half Moon Bay and Palmer Sea Reef. Players are not
required to play all games and may enter for one or more days as they
choose. Enter at the club on (07)40911283

Next
Tuesday the Tableland Summer of Golf event will be at Mareeba and not
Millaa Millaa as previously advised. Our next veterans event will be
at Cairns Golf Club on Tuesday 4th
April and from then we play weekly.

Tuesday, 7 March 2017

Today we conducted a single stableford
event at Half Moon Bay golf club and we had a field of 62 men and 21
women, this is perhaps a little disappointing, but as the weather was
very hot we can expect that some would rather stay near the air
conditioner.

The sponsor for the day was GOLF
WORLD of Cairns and we are
grateful for the vouchers provided to the winners and runners up.

I must also thank
the Half Moon Bay club for providing a carton of beer as a prize in a
free raffle for those at the presentations. The lucky player to take
home the beer was Bob Turner.

Thanks also to
Mike and Tarquin McManus for cooking the ever popular hamburgers to
feed the hungry golfers.

After the game
today we had a meeting of your committee where we spent much time
discussing the dwindling membership of our club. We have decided to
ask our members in a survey by email as well as at the games to seek
your ideas as to what can be done better, eg.starting times, prizes
and so on.

Other items on the
agenda were a review of the Christmas breakup and our championships.

Thursday, 2 March 2017

Our game next week is a single stableford at Half Moon Bay, sponsored by Golf World.

I'm advised that the full course is playable & in good nick apart from a temp green on the 15th, so hopefully we will not have too much rain in the interim.

Great burgers will be available as usual & the bar open, so see you there.

Louis

PS As part of a joint initiative to modernize the Rules and make them easier to understand and apply, the USGA and The R&A have unveiled a preview of proposed new Rules of Golf.

The release of this preview begins a six-month feedback and evaluation period during which all golfers worldwide can learn about the proposed changes and provide input before they are finalized in 2018 and take effect January 1, 2019.

Players are reminded that the current 2016 Edition of the Rules of Golf remain in force when playing, posting scores or competing, until the new Rules are officially adopted by the USGA and The R&A in 2019.

Highlights of the proposed Rule changes include:

Elimination or reduction of “ball moved” penalties: There will be no penalty for accidentally moving a ball on the putting green or in searching for a ball; and a player is not responsible for causing a ball to move unless it is “virtually certain” that he or she did so.

Relaxed putting green rules: There will be no penalty if a ball played from the putting green hits an unattended flagstick in the hole; players may putt without having the flagstick attended or removed. Players may repair spike marks and other damage made by shoes, animal damage and other damage on the putting green and there is no penalty for merely touching the line of putt.

Relaxed rules for “penalty areas” (currently called “water hazards”): Red and yellow-marked penalty areas may cover areas of desert, jungle, lava rock, etc., in addition to areas of water; expanded use of red penalty areas where lateral relief is allowed; and there will be no penalty for moving loose impediments or touching the ground or water in a penalty area.

Relaxed bunker rules: There will be no penalty for moving loose impediments in a bunker or for generally touching the sand with a hand or club. A limited set of restrictions (such as not grounding the club right next to the ball) is kept to preserve the challenge of playing from the sand; however, an extra relief option is added for an unplayable ball in a bunker, allowing the ball to be played from outside the bunker with a two-stroke penalty.

Relying on player integrity: A player’s “reasonable judgment” when estimating or measuring a spot, point, line, area or distance will be upheld, even if video evidence later shows it to be wrong; and elimination of announcement procedures when lifting a ball to identify it or to see if it is damaged.

Pace-of-play support: Reduced time for searching for a lost ball (from five minutes to three); affirmative encouragement of “ready golf” in stroke play; recommending that players take no more than 40 seconds to play a stroke and other changes intended to help with pace of play.

Simplified way of taking relief: A new procedure for taking relief by dropping a ball in and playing it from a specific relief area; relaxed procedures for dropping a ball, allowing the ball to be dropped from just above the ground or any growing thing or other object on the ground.